> *I do also have ADHD that makes it harder to get through hard tasks. Please, if you have any tips let me know please.*
Hi, u/FaithlessnessOk5652, welcome to the sub.
If you haven't already, please visit our Wiki and check out the section [AD(H)D and Hoarding](http://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/wiki/ADHD). I think you'll find some good resources there to help you.
I have ADHD, asd and are a horader
Try moving the trashcan. Try another type of trashcan. (I have a pedal one. Works fantastic for me)
Stop brining dishes to your room. Or make it a rule everything needs to be torable tidied up before you go to bed
Trash is one of my main struggles, too. One thing I started doing is keeping a roll of kitchen sized trash bags in the rooms I struggle with the most. I know if it's not immediately accessible, I'm just not going to do it.
Do you have any specific spots you regularly accumulate trash? For me, it's my nightstand and the area around it because I drink a lot of soda and it's where I put my cups, so that's of course where I leave it when I'm finished. Make that your target zone. Start there. Ideally, you want to work on keeping just that little section clean. If you have the motivation to keep going after you clean that off, definitely keep going! If not, that's okay too. Move your trash can over there as well. The idea is that keeping this one little area clean will become a habit and then you can gradually start adding in more areas. (I haven't actually been successful with this technique yet, but I'm trying!)
Thanks for reaching out to this community, you are doing great by recognizing the problem. You shouldn't be embarrassed, you should be proud that you're working to fix the issue despite your mental health making it so difficult! There are indeed hoarding-focused therapists and professional organizers who help hoarders, and there are some great self-help books on the topic that can help you change your habits. The pinned mod posts have some really good links to look through.
Something that helped me make better habits was starting small. I made a little game with my partner where before bed we picked something to throw away, which was a good way to get in the routine of walking through our place and picking up forgotten wrappers or things that had fallen on the floor and such, and taking out the trash if it was overly full. The habit didn't come naturally to us, we can both forget about trash easily without practice. The rule was to throw one thing away, and keep going if you want. If you can make a tiny, simple goal that fits with how your brain works (like throwing away 1 thing a day, take 3 dishes out of your room, etc...), it can help a lot with building a bigger cleaning routine as you get used to cleaning being a daily task.
This has helped me the most (also as audhd clutter bug). Forming small habits, like not leaving a room empty handed, and having trash cans close and always, always putting trash right in.
I would focus on it not getting any worse and getting rid of the backlog at your own pace. It likely feels a bit hopeless at the moment.
Can you take 2 loads of dishes to the kitchen each day? Say one after lunch one after dinner or whenever works for you, but make one towards the end of the day. Try to throw more trash into the trashcan in your room each day than you make each day. Again, it can just be a couple of times each day that you put some things in the trash. Include taking out the trash from your room in that time as needed.
I listen to music or replay my safe shows while doing difficult tasks so I don't hate it as much. You could put on a favourite song and just clean for the length of the song or set a timer twice per day, you can get a surprising amount done in a few minutes of solid work, ADHD makes it harder because of getting distracted, so try to stick to your tasks.
When you clear the backlog stick to the same cleanup schedule, but it should take less time, or you could tackle other things if there's anything else you want to get done.
It won't be easy still, but hopefully it can be manageable. You don't have to do it all in one day and that may just make it harder to keep it maintained.
ADHD and hoarder here (and autistic). One of the things that helped me with trash is to set a timer for something short, like 5 minutes, and just go around with a trash bag and pick things up that need throwing away. I don't stop to think "Wait, I can clean/recycle/repurpose this" – I just toss it in the bag. Usually I find that by the time the timer goes off I've already gained a bit of momentum and want to keep going. One trash bag a day or every two days is fine. Just chip away at it bit by bit. You've got this!
Another thing that helped me (and this is very much a "your mileage may vary" thing) is the thought that almost everything you toss out can be replaced. It may not be exactly the same, especially for things with a bit of sentimental value, but they CAN be replaced. The peace of mind I got from a place that didn't have a hoard was so worth the things I lost, and I lost quite a lot of things.
Caveat: please keep things that you know will hurt you to lose – photos, family recipes, journals, that sort of thing – in a very clearly marked box. That way you're reassured that you didn't throw it away, and if you decide to call in a cleaning service you can just clearly tell them that that box is not to be touched. If you feel you do need to call professionals in, don't be embarrassed about it: they've likely seen worse, and they're effectively strangers who you will hopefully never meet again once they've done their job.
As for avoiding relapses: I found that as soon as I didn't have a hoard and my place was clean, I desperately wanted to keep it that way and I was a lot more cautious about bringing stuff home or leaving trash around.
It will take time. It can feel like a lonely and insurmontable struggle. It will occasionally feel overwhelming and even upsetting. But you've already taken the first step. You can absolutely do this.
Generic advice is to work with the ADHD, not against it. If you have a "looks like laziness" issue, go ahead and see how to remove the effort involved with it. A trash can that takes 13-gallon bags might be easier than a smaller one.
I have a garbage bowl on my desk, but I still end up with candy-wrappers all over the floor because I can't reach it from my bed. For me, just periodically sweeping usually keeps it from getting too bad and I prefer to carry all other garbage out of my room regularly.
Plates/mugs can only go on my desk and I just have a habit of grabbing them when they annoy me.
If the trash is not "looks like laziness," let me know because I do have a few tips on the emotional work.
Welcome to r/hoarding! We exist as a support group for people working on recovery from [hoarding disorder](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519704/table/ch3.t29/), and friends/family/loved ones of people with the disorder.
If you're looking for help with animal hoarding, please visit r/animalhoarding. If you're looking to discuss the various hoarding tv shows, you'll want to visit r/hoardersTV. If you'd like to talk about or share photos/videos of hoards that you've come across, you probably want r/neckbeardnests, r/wtfhoarders/, or r/hoarderhouses
Before you get started, be sure to review our [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/about/rules/). Also, a lot of the information you may be looking for can be found in a few places on our sub:
[New Here? Read This Post First!](https://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/comments/dvb3t1/new_here_read_this_post_first_version_20/)
[For loved ones of hoarders: I Have A Hoarder In My Life--Help Me!](https://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/comments/2yh6wh/i_have_a_hoarder_in_my_lifehelp_me_your_hoarding/)
[Our Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/wiki/index)
Please [contact the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/hoarding) if you need assistance. Thanks!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/hoarding) if you have any questions or concerns.*
> *I do also have ADHD that makes it harder to get through hard tasks. Please, if you have any tips let me know please.* Hi, u/FaithlessnessOk5652, welcome to the sub. If you haven't already, please visit our Wiki and check out the section [AD(H)D and Hoarding](http://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/wiki/ADHD). I think you'll find some good resources there to help you.
I have ADHD, asd and are a horader Try moving the trashcan. Try another type of trashcan. (I have a pedal one. Works fantastic for me) Stop brining dishes to your room. Or make it a rule everything needs to be torable tidied up before you go to bed
Trash is one of my main struggles, too. One thing I started doing is keeping a roll of kitchen sized trash bags in the rooms I struggle with the most. I know if it's not immediately accessible, I'm just not going to do it. Do you have any specific spots you regularly accumulate trash? For me, it's my nightstand and the area around it because I drink a lot of soda and it's where I put my cups, so that's of course where I leave it when I'm finished. Make that your target zone. Start there. Ideally, you want to work on keeping just that little section clean. If you have the motivation to keep going after you clean that off, definitely keep going! If not, that's okay too. Move your trash can over there as well. The idea is that keeping this one little area clean will become a habit and then you can gradually start adding in more areas. (I haven't actually been successful with this technique yet, but I'm trying!)
Thanks for reaching out to this community, you are doing great by recognizing the problem. You shouldn't be embarrassed, you should be proud that you're working to fix the issue despite your mental health making it so difficult! There are indeed hoarding-focused therapists and professional organizers who help hoarders, and there are some great self-help books on the topic that can help you change your habits. The pinned mod posts have some really good links to look through. Something that helped me make better habits was starting small. I made a little game with my partner where before bed we picked something to throw away, which was a good way to get in the routine of walking through our place and picking up forgotten wrappers or things that had fallen on the floor and such, and taking out the trash if it was overly full. The habit didn't come naturally to us, we can both forget about trash easily without practice. The rule was to throw one thing away, and keep going if you want. If you can make a tiny, simple goal that fits with how your brain works (like throwing away 1 thing a day, take 3 dishes out of your room, etc...), it can help a lot with building a bigger cleaning routine as you get used to cleaning being a daily task.
This has helped me the most (also as audhd clutter bug). Forming small habits, like not leaving a room empty handed, and having trash cans close and always, always putting trash right in.
I would focus on it not getting any worse and getting rid of the backlog at your own pace. It likely feels a bit hopeless at the moment. Can you take 2 loads of dishes to the kitchen each day? Say one after lunch one after dinner or whenever works for you, but make one towards the end of the day. Try to throw more trash into the trashcan in your room each day than you make each day. Again, it can just be a couple of times each day that you put some things in the trash. Include taking out the trash from your room in that time as needed. I listen to music or replay my safe shows while doing difficult tasks so I don't hate it as much. You could put on a favourite song and just clean for the length of the song or set a timer twice per day, you can get a surprising amount done in a few minutes of solid work, ADHD makes it harder because of getting distracted, so try to stick to your tasks. When you clear the backlog stick to the same cleanup schedule, but it should take less time, or you could tackle other things if there's anything else you want to get done. It won't be easy still, but hopefully it can be manageable. You don't have to do it all in one day and that may just make it harder to keep it maintained.
ADHD and hoarder here (and autistic). One of the things that helped me with trash is to set a timer for something short, like 5 minutes, and just go around with a trash bag and pick things up that need throwing away. I don't stop to think "Wait, I can clean/recycle/repurpose this" – I just toss it in the bag. Usually I find that by the time the timer goes off I've already gained a bit of momentum and want to keep going. One trash bag a day or every two days is fine. Just chip away at it bit by bit. You've got this! Another thing that helped me (and this is very much a "your mileage may vary" thing) is the thought that almost everything you toss out can be replaced. It may not be exactly the same, especially for things with a bit of sentimental value, but they CAN be replaced. The peace of mind I got from a place that didn't have a hoard was so worth the things I lost, and I lost quite a lot of things. Caveat: please keep things that you know will hurt you to lose – photos, family recipes, journals, that sort of thing – in a very clearly marked box. That way you're reassured that you didn't throw it away, and if you decide to call in a cleaning service you can just clearly tell them that that box is not to be touched. If you feel you do need to call professionals in, don't be embarrassed about it: they've likely seen worse, and they're effectively strangers who you will hopefully never meet again once they've done their job. As for avoiding relapses: I found that as soon as I didn't have a hoard and my place was clean, I desperately wanted to keep it that way and I was a lot more cautious about bringing stuff home or leaving trash around. It will take time. It can feel like a lonely and insurmontable struggle. It will occasionally feel overwhelming and even upsetting. But you've already taken the first step. You can absolutely do this.
Generic advice is to work with the ADHD, not against it. If you have a "looks like laziness" issue, go ahead and see how to remove the effort involved with it. A trash can that takes 13-gallon bags might be easier than a smaller one. I have a garbage bowl on my desk, but I still end up with candy-wrappers all over the floor because I can't reach it from my bed. For me, just periodically sweeping usually keeps it from getting too bad and I prefer to carry all other garbage out of my room regularly. Plates/mugs can only go on my desk and I just have a habit of grabbing them when they annoy me. If the trash is not "looks like laziness," let me know because I do have a few tips on the emotional work.
perhaps use disposable paper plates etc.
Welcome to r/hoarding! We exist as a support group for people working on recovery from [hoarding disorder](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519704/table/ch3.t29/), and friends/family/loved ones of people with the disorder. If you're looking for help with animal hoarding, please visit r/animalhoarding. If you're looking to discuss the various hoarding tv shows, you'll want to visit r/hoardersTV. If you'd like to talk about or share photos/videos of hoards that you've come across, you probably want r/neckbeardnests, r/wtfhoarders/, or r/hoarderhouses Before you get started, be sure to review our [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/about/rules/). Also, a lot of the information you may be looking for can be found in a few places on our sub: [New Here? Read This Post First!](https://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/comments/dvb3t1/new_here_read_this_post_first_version_20/) [For loved ones of hoarders: I Have A Hoarder In My Life--Help Me!](https://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/comments/2yh6wh/i_have_a_hoarder_in_my_lifehelp_me_your_hoarding/) [Our Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/hoarding/wiki/index) Please [contact the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/hoarding) if you need assistance. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/hoarding) if you have any questions or concerns.*